The men’s Japan National Team showed they can compete with the best of Asia in a hard fought battle with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second warm up match prior to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia & EAP Qualifier.
Ranked 15, the UAE are the highest ranked team at the qualifier and are expected by many to make it to the World Cup, but Japan pushed them hard in a 26-run defeat.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Shoma Sugaya-Slater (two for 25) struck an early blow, as Benjamin Ito-Davis claimed the first of his four catches on the day.
Captain and star batter Waseem Muhammed made 50 off 28 balls to accelerate his team to 94 for two at the halfway mark, but it was the introduction of leg-spinning maestro Makoto Taniyama that turned the tide.
Dismissing Waseem in his first over, thanks to a steepling catch by Declan Suzuki (who would later collect two wickets of his own) and grabbing another in his third, his spell of three overs, two wickets for 12 runs turned the tide as UAE ended on 168 for seven from their 20 overs.
Japan started well in the chase with a second successive fifty partnership between Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (20 off 18) and Abhishek Anand.
Anand held the innings together after the captains dismissal, striking five sixes on his way to 70 from just 50 balls, and with seven overs to go Japan needed 62 to win with seven wickets in hand.
Ultimately the superior quality of UAE shone through as our batters were unable to maintain the momentum, being bowled all out for 142 with one ball of the innings remaining.
The tournament proper starts on Wednesday, with Japan in action the following day. Full schedule below.
Warm Up Matches:
- 3rd October (Friday) 19:00 Japan vs Samoa (Japan won by 5 wickets)
- 5th October (Saturday) 14:30 Japan vs UAE (UAE won by 26 runs)
Tournament Matches:
- 9th October (Thursday) 14:30 Japan vs Kuwait
- 10th October (Friday) 14:30 Japan vs Nepal
*Oman is 5 hours behind Japan
Other Groups:
- Group A : UAE, Malaysia, Qatar
- Group C : Oman, PNG, Samoa
All tournament matches can be watched live on ICC.tv while matches can also be followed live on the JCA App.
Men’s National Team Partner
- Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd.
Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (MKI) specialized in providing services and products related to ICT (information and communication technology). Partnering with various global ICT vendors and supporting more than 2,500 companies, MKI offers best-in-class solutions to customers.
Website: https://www.mki.co.jp/english/
